Botanical classification: Rosa hybrida xe2x80x98POULra018xe2x80x99.
The present discovery constitutes a new and distinct variety of a miniature pot rose plant which was discovered in a cultivated area. The mutation resulted from xe2x80x98POULra002xe2x80x99, a miniature pot rose hybridized by the same inventors. xe2x80x98POULra002xe2x80x99 is described and illustrated in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,275, and issued on Nov. 26, 2002. The new rose variety resulted from a naturally occurring mutation of unknown causation on a branch of xe2x80x98POULra002xe2x80x99.
The rose plant of the present discovery has a unique combination of characteristics which are outstanding in the new variety and which distinguish it from the original rose xe2x80x98POULra002xe2x80x99 as well as all other varieties which we are aware of. For example, the new variety has:
1. Uniform and abundant light pink flowers;
2. Vigorous and compact growth;
3. Year-round flowering under glasshouse conditions;
4. Suitability for production from softwood cuttings in pots;
5. Durable flowers and foliage which make a variety suitable for distribution in the floral industry.
This combination of qualities is not present in previously available commercial cultivars of this type and distinguish xe2x80x98POULra018xe2x80x99 from all other varieties of which we are aware.
The resulting mutation was selected and evaluations were conducted on the resulting rose plants in a controlled environment.
Asexual reproduction of xe2x80x98POULra018xe2x80x99 by cuttings and traditional budding was first done by L. Pernille and Mogens N. Olesen in their nursery in Fredensborg, Denmark in August 1998. This initial and other subsequent propagations conducted in controlled environments have demonstrated that the characteristics of xe2x80x98POULra018xe2x80x99 are true to type and are transmitted from one generation to the next.